FFRF stops coach from promoting Christian club (Aug. 8, 2012)

Thanks to an FFRF complaint, a coach at Hutto High School in Texas will no longer be allowed to play an active role in the school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter.

The high school coach was the Christian group’s faculty advisor, but he actively participated in the organization, sending emails to the staff and faculty promoting FCA events and listing himself as the contact person on event advertisements.

FFRF Staff Attorney Stephanie Schmitt in wrote a letter on Feb. 17, 2012, noting that this Christian student organization was not actually student-initiated or student-run. “A reasonable Hutto High School student would presume that this Christian club is sponsored by the school.”

FFRF received a response from the attorney for the school district on August 8. He assured FFRF that the district would be provided training on the Constitutional issues raised and that the “district will also ensure that this club is truly student initiated and student run.”